Liverpool team news: Klopp confirms triple boost but 7 players miss Palace trip

Liverpool will look to cement their position at the top of the table with a win when they take on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday lunchtime.

Ahead of the game, Jurgen Klopp has been speaking to the media at his pre-match press conference today and he’s provided a team news and injury update which included the latest on the fitness of Thiago Alcantara.

The Spaniard has been on the sidelines since suffering a knee injury during Liverpool’s controversial draw with Everton two months ago when he was on the wrong end of a red-card challenge from Richarlison. The Reds initially hoped the injury wouldn’t keep Thiago out for long but it’s proved to be far more serious than first though.

However, the 29-year-old was pictured back in light individual training on Thursday and Klopp has confirmed Thiago is edging closer to returning to action after stepping-up his rehabilitation at the clubs AXA Training Centre.

Klopp suggested that the midfielder is now in the final phase of his recovery and while it’s great to see Thiago back on the training pitch, the Liverpool boss insists they won’t rush him back into first team action too soon.

Thiago will be tested with the aim of resuming full training next week and Klopp has suggested that James Milner and Xherdan Shaqiri could also return to training with the rest of the squad soon, too.

The German coach told Liverpoolfc.com.

“He [Thiago] gets closer and closer and he is in a good way, but we will not rush it, we cannot rush it and he will not [either] because he is not allowed to rush it. Of course, it’s nice having him on the pitch, training, doing a lot of stuff, but he is not in team training yet and that’s actually the final step.

“We will see how this weekend looks with him on the pitch and then next week [see if he] can he be in team training. I don’t know in the moment 100 per cent. There are a few tests, he has to pass a few tests on the pitch until we make that decision.

“That’s not only for him the case. With Millie it will be similar, with Shaq it will be similar… if I forgot somebody it’s not because I am disrespectful, it’s just a lot of players are injured in the moment.”

It will be a huge boost for Liverpool to have Thiago, Milner and Shaqiri available again but Klopp is still having to deal with a lengthy injury list with as many as seven players expected to miss the trip to Palace this weekend.

Joining Thiago, Milner and Shaqiri on the sidelines is Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez as they continue to work their way back from serious knee injuries while Diogo Jota and Kostas Tsimikas are also out with a knee problems.

However, one Liverpool player should return to action this weekend as Joel Matip was pictured in full training yesterday after missing the win over Tottenham with a minor back injury.